Changing our habits as writers can really transform our writing. One way to change is to try writing a poem and then rewriting it from the end! (It’s easier to do this in Word, Pages or Open Office.)
Here’s how to do it in 5 simple steps:
1. Open a new document.
2. Copy and paste a previously written poem into the new one.
3. Now, cut the last stanza and paste it at the beginning.
4. Then, make the last line the first line, the second to last line your second line, and continue in that format. Do this for each stanza.
5. Take a look at your upside down poem. Does the order and language feel a bit too jumbled? That’s OK! It’s supposed to do that. Read it through and rewrite each stanza so that they flow backwards in a way that makes sense. Finally, take a look at your Upside Down & Backwards poem to make sure you need every line and detail. Delete what you don’t need, what distracts the reader from your message, and then you’re done!